The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is selling its student accommodation business Liberty Living to London Stock Exchange-listed Unite Group for about $1.3 billion.
The CPPIB will keep a 20 per cent stake in the newly combined company and one seat on its board. When the deal is complete, Unite Students’ assets will total more than 73,000 beds across 173 properties in 27 cities in the U.K.
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“Through this transaction, we are able to continue our investment in the student housing sector within the U.K. across a broader, more diverse and stable portfolio and with additional development exposure, which fits well within our global real estate strategy,” said Thomas Jackson, the CPPIB’s managing director of real estate investments, in a press release.
“We look forward to working with Unite Students in combining these two excellent businesses to continue to provide affordable, high-quality student accommodation across the U.K. and maintain strategic relationships with educational institutions.”
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As of March 31, 2019, the CPPIB had $22.1 billion invested in the U.K. across all asset classes, with a total of $47.5 billion invested in real estate holdings globally.